Aircraft construction



y 1940- o. E. TORMOLLAN. JR 2,201,249

AIRCRAFT CONSTRUCTION Filed April 26, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet l 0 H u n u ao n n o D a v n a a 0 May 21, 1940. o. E. TCRMOLLAN, JR

AIRCRAFT CONSTRUCTION Filed April 26, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 I Jude/PMQwn E, Tormo'l Ian, Jr,

May 21, 1940.

O. E. TORMOLLAN. JR

AIRCRAFT CONSTRUCTION Filed April 26, 1939 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 awucm to nowdm Thrmolla n, Jr.

Patented Mayzl, 1940 mm cons muc'rron Owen E. Tormollan, In, Baltimore,MIL, aaaignor to Thefiienn L. Martin Company, Baltim Application April28, 1939, Serial No. 2765175 10 Claims. (Cl. 244-121) The inventionrelates to aircraft construction, and particularly tobomb sight windowsfor flying boats,

In flying boats which are used as bombers, it

is desirable to have a bomb sight window adjacent the front end of theaircraft through which the observer may look downwardly in sighting on atarget. Obviously such a window must be located in the lower portion ofthe machine, that is, in the hull portion. Furthermore, it is desirablethat the window shall be plane, both because of the difllculties inconstructing a window of curved or pointed shape, and because of the afact that curved or pointed windows might create such reflections oflight as would disturb the bomb sight operator. On the other hand,it isof course evident that a plane window disturbs the stream-lined surface,which is particularly important when the boat is in the water. In :0addition, the window is in a position where it is exposed to the directimpact of'waves when the boat lands or when it takes oil, or whenever itis moving through the water.

The primary object of this invention is to pro- 5 vide a construction inwhich a plane window may be located in the nose portion of the hull, insuch a manner as to permit .acfzurate observation therethrough, whileatthe-same time providing" means for protecting the window when the boat,30 is in the water, and for reducing the resistance to movement of theboat which would be caused by the flat window surface.

Especially, the invention contemplates the provision of doors which maybe moved across 35 the front of the window, and which when so moved willform substantially a continuation of the normal hull outline, thesedoors forming a point and protecting the window from impacts of thewater. Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear morefully from the following description particularly when taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings which form a part thereof.

in the drawings: V Fig. 1 is a front view of the hull porti n of aflying boat embodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross-section on the lined-2 of Fig. 1;

m Fig. 3 is across-section on the line H of Fit.

Fig. 4 is a cross-section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged cross-section through the window;

Fig. 6 is a cross-section through the upper portion of one of the doorsand its guide; Fig. 7 is a cross-section through the operating nomechanism for one of the doors; and

Fig. 8 is a crossssection on the line 8-8 of applied to a flying boathaving a body 2 and a hull 5. In the front of the hull, a floor 6 formsthe bottom of a compartment in which is located bomb sight mechanism 0of any well-known type. The front of this compartment is formed by aplane plate It having an opening therein which is closed by a window 12.The window is set in the wall by a surrounding flange member ll securedto'the wall l0 and engaging the glass of the window by a syntheticrubber gasket l3. As will be seen in the drawings, the wall I0 andwindow i2 are tilted somewhat forwardly so as to permit downward andoutward observation.

Obviously the wall ill breaks the stream-lined surface of the front ofthe aircraft. This streamlined surface is formed by the two sides of thehull d which meet, above the plane wall IIl,-to;

The keel I! also continues "and the wall of the upper'portion of thehull is closed by a horizontal wall It having therein preferably aremovable door It; through which the window may be cleaned and polished.

, The covering of the window I: and wall Iii is accomplished by means oftwo curved doors 20, located on the opposite sides of the wall i0. Thesedoors are mounted on pivots 22 mounted in a common bracket 24 located onthe hull near the bottom of the wall Hi. The doors are so shaped that,when in retracted position, they lie against the wall ofthe hull (seeFig. 4), while when swung forward they-meet in a line which is acontinuation of the prow it, and thus complete the streamlined outlineof the hull (broken lines, Fig. 4).

The doors at their upper edges each extend into agroove formed byflanges 26 (see Fig. 6) secured to the wall of the hull t and spacedtherefrom. These flanges are curved, as is apparent from Fig. 1, aboutthe pivots 22 as centers, and the flanges meet in the line of the prowit. Thus the doors can swing along the surface of the hull; about thepivots 22, but are guided in such movement by flanges it.

The movement of the doors about their pivots is caused by the mechanismshown in Fig. '7. Each of the doors carries .near its upper edge and onits inner face a rack 29 which extends along outward extensions dii onthe rear sides of the doors. Rack 29 is moved by a gear 32, which inturn is driven through gearing M from a hand wheel 38 located above wallit. Obviously any other method of driving the gear and rack could beutilized. 1

When the doors are in a position as shown in Fig. I, obviously the bombwindow is open. When window.

While I have described herein one embodiment of my invention, I wish itto be understood that I do not intend to limit myselfthereby exceptwithin the scope of the appended claims.

I claim: Y

1. In a flying boat hullhaving a prow, a plane.

wall forming a part of the front of said hull, a plane bomb sight windowlocated in said wall, 'said hull above said wall extending forwardlythereof to the prow, and doors mounted for movement from positionsagainst the side of said hull to positions in front of said plane wall,said doors in said second position forming substantially a continuationof the stream-lined outline of the hull and meeting along a line whichis substantially a continuation of the prow.

2. In a flying boat hull having a prow, a plane wall forming a part ofthe front of said hull, a plane bomb sight window located in said wall,said hull above said wall extending forwardly thereof to the prow, anddoors pivoted adjacent the bottom of said plane wall to swing frompositions against the side of said hull to positions in front of saidplane wall, said doors in said second position forming substantially acontinuation of the stream-lined outline of the hull and meeting alongthe line which is substantially a continuation of the prow.

3. In a flying boat hull, a plane bomb sight window in the front of andextending transversely of the longitudinal axis of the hull, the portionof said hull above said window forming a prow, a member secured to saidhull above said window on each side of said prow and having a portionspaced from the hull wall to form a downwardly open. groove, doorshaving their upper edges engaged in said downwardly open grooves, meansmounting said doors on the hull for movement from a rearward positionagainst the hull wall to a forward position in which they form acontinuation of the stream-lined outline of the hull and close the spacein front of said window, meeting along a line which is a continuation ofthe prow.

4. In a flying boat hull, a plane bomb sight window in the front of andextending transversely of the longitudinal axis of the hull, the

portion of said hull above said plane window forming a prow, a memberof'arcuate form secured to said hull above said window on each side ofsaid prow and having a portion spaced from the hull wall to form adownwardly open groove, doors pivoted to said hull adjacent the bottomof said window, said doors having their upper edges engaged in saiddownwardly open grooves,

said doors being swingable from a rearward posi-' arcuate form securedto said hull above said plane being swingable from a rearward positionagainst the hull wall to a forward position in which they form acontinuation of the stream-lined outline .of the hull and close thespace in front of said plane wall and window, meeting along a line whichis a continuation of the prow.

6. In a flying boat hull, a plane wall section in the front of saidhull, a plane bomb sight window in said wall section, said section andwindow extending transversely of the longitudinal axis of the hull, theportion of said hull above said plane wall forming a'p'row, a member ofarcuate form secured to said hull above said plane wall on each side ofsaid prow and having a portion spaced from the hull wall to form adownwardly open groove, doors pivoted to said hull adjacent the bottomof said plane wall, said doors being curved and having their upper edgesengaged in said downwardly open grooves, said doors being swingable froma rearward position against the hull wall to a forward position in whichthey form a continuation of the streamlined outline of the hull andclose the space in front of said plane wall and window, meeting along aline which is a continuation of the prow,

each of said doors having a rack portion adjacent its upper edge, a gearrotatably mounted in engagement with said rack, and means within saidlined surface, a plane window section located in the hull at a pointsubject to contact with water upon. landing and bounded by such surface,and at least one curved window-protecting door mounted on the hull formovement acrosssaid window, said door when moved across the windowcarrying out the curvature of the hull to complete the streamlinedsurface outline thereof.

8. In a flying boat hull having a curved streamlined surface, a planewindow section located in the hull at a point subject to contact withwater upon landing and bounded by such surface, and curvedwindow-protecting doors pivoted on the aircraft for movement across saidwindow, said doors when moved across the window carrying out thecurvature of the hull to complete the stream- I lined surface outlinethereof.

9. In a flying boat hull having a streamlined surface, a plane bombsight window located in said hull in a plane transverse to thelongitudinal axis thereof, said hull at one side of said windowextending outwardlythereof to an edge, and a door mounted for movementfrom a position against the side of said hull to a position infront ofsaid window,.said door in said second position having an edgesubstantially flush with said hull edge and forming substantially acontinuation of the streamlined outline of the hull.

10. In an aircraft body having a curved streamlined surface, a planewindow section located in the body and bounded by such surface, and atleast one curved window-protecting door mounted on the body for movementacross said window, said door when moved across the window carrying outthe curvature of the body to complete the streamlined surface outlinethereof.

OWEN E. TORMOLLAN, JR.

